The Counseling Corner
By Rev. Judith T. Lester, B.Min. M.Th
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth….” – Gen. 1:28 (MSG)
In Genesis, God commanded humans to be fruitful, fill the Earth and subdue it. Accordingly, dominion involved the stewardship of God’s property. God’s “property” is all that God has created. In the final article of this series, this writer will look at the reasons why we must recycle for sustainability.
1. We realize it is a command from God. Because it is a mandate from God, the responsibility for creation care is not onerous or burdensome. The world God created is beautiful and incredible and it deserves our intentional good treatment of it.
2. We recycle for sustainability for the long-term benefits. Protecting our environment now and teaching our children and grandchildren this important stewardship responsibility will help protect our natural resources and wildlife for the enjoyment of future generations.
3. We recycle for sustainability in order to preserve a sustainable ecosystem. God has already supplied everything within our ecosystem for life to survive and sustain itself. Let’s not endanger it daily by our human actions. Let’s reduce, reuse and recycle so that we may exist in accord with the surrounding environments and thus contribute to a sustainable ecosystem.
Beloved, The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has identified the biggest threats to our environment. They include deforestation, effects of climate change, illegal fishing, pollution, oil and gas development, soil erosion and degradation and the scarcity of water. The WWF reports the measure of human demands on the Earth’s resources is known as our ecological footprint. It would take 1.6 Earths to produce all the renewable resources we use. The effect of this overuse is a growing scarcity of resources – 2.7 billion people, for example already face water scarcity at least one month out of the year. As the human population grows, the challenge of reducing our footprint becomes more urgent.
God has given us such beautiful land, however, God’s command to humans to have dominion over creation has sadly evolved into exploitation, whether intentionally or unintentionally. We can respond to the environment’s concerns of our time by knowing, loving and caring for the particular places where we live. Waste reduction and recycling takes all of us. May this series inspire you to join in educating others to be good stewards of God’s creation by treating the Earth with respect and caring for the Earth responsibly.
The writer does not assume responsibility in any way for readers’ efforts to apply or utilize information or recommendations made in this article, as they may not be necessarily appropriate for every situation to which they may refer. This information is for educational purposes only. If you would like to contact Rev. Lester, write to her c/o P.O. Box 121, Brookfield, WI. 53008.
